Sunday March 12, 2017 Spring Forward Plus Spring 2017 To Do Items

As most of us know but tend to forget, we need to spring forward on Sunday March 12, 2017 at 2:00 A.M. and turn our timepieces forward one hour. I like to remind folks early as there are many planners who might not remember and this can cause havoc. It is always easy to remember the time change if you think about spring forward and fall back when it comes to setting the time.

There are several essential things most of us should schedule time to do to coincide with the time change. These tasks for the most part are items we all tend to forget or just ignore or realize this is a real pain and we wait until there is a problem before taking any action.

Call this a Spring Important To DO List. If we plan to add all these items to our list of essential To Do’s whenever the time changes we know that these items will be done at least twice a year. Here are the items to consider:

Replace or remove all the air filters in your home and attic. Most inspectors I speak to advise we should replace these filters every 30 days. Some even tell us to remove these filters if we have a centralized system filter.That is probably a good idea but really who is going to remember to take the time to do this chore every month? Not me! ·

Check your home sprinkler system to see if it works; has it developed any new leaks and examine the days and times for watering. Here in Katy we are already using our sprinkler systems. Now is the perfect time to check out your system and turn it back on. Back East and in The Midwest it might be too early to turn your system on but that does not prevent you from doing an inspection.·I have a neighbor whose system seems to always have a leak and water flows into our side yard resulting in a mud mess on our yard and driveway.

Carefully examine all trees and shrubs to see if any need to be removed or trimmed. There may be a branch of a tree which needs immediate attention before it falls and someone gets hurt on your property. I can tell you in Grand Lakes many folks leave tree limbs hanging where a person walking could get hit in the eye with a branch!

Discuss fire safetyand CO2 safety for your home with all family members and find at least two escape routes. The result might be your family investing a in a folding ladder to hang out from a second story window in case of fire. This is a cheap investment in safety

Reset all inside and outside lights which have some sort of timing mechanism to come on or off at the appropriate time now that DST has arrived. Check pool timer settings if you have a pool in the backyard and sprinkler system.

Find all home fire extinguishers and make sure they all still will function and or if they are charged. Several times during the last few years I have had to use an extinguisher to put out a fire raging inside my gas grill usually due to residue on and below the grill burners. Buy new extinguishers if the old are not charged or working. Another cheap safety investment.

Here is one item which will save you from a major interruption of your sleep by Replacing all batteries in the smoke detectors in your home. I don’t know about the rest of you but it is inevitable these darn detectors batteries will go out at 3 AM or so and there is almost nothing worse than searching your home while half asleep trying to figure out which alarm has an issue. I have a difficult time telling where the noise is coming from and it is almost impossible to find the correct one especially at 3 AM. All other people in the household are shouting at you to stop that horrible noise. You would think with all the tech advancements we have seen in the last 5 years someone would come up with a easy way to tell which smoke detector is causing the problem.

Make sure all batteries are not in a position in a drawer where a fire could self start. This happens more often than folks realize and I have seen video of fires started by batteries in a drawer. .

Check your security system control panel to make sure everything is operational.

Have some fun if possible this weekend and do a few extra errands which will produce big dividends in the future days of Spring ,Summer and Fall until Fall Back arrives. I hope the rain which is on the way will clear out by the weekend!

Many folks do not like the time change at all. I do as it gives me more daylight hours in the evening plus I get to drive home with sunlight.